Landrieu, Vitter Block Obama Nominee Until Drill Permits Resume

Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter of Louisiana are blocking confirmation of an Obama
administration nominee in an effort to force a resumption of
offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Vitter, a Republican, will oppose acting on Daniel Ashe to
lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until the government
issues 15 deep-water exploration permits, he said in a statement
yesterday. Vitter is using a Senate procedure that lets a single
lawmaker block action on a nominee.

“I support Senator Vitter’s hold on the confirmation” of
Ashe “until the Interior Department issues new deep-water
permits,” Landrieu, a Democrat, said today. “Louisiana’s
congressional delegation will continue to apply pressure on the
administration to end what amounts to an ongoing moratorium on
oil and gas drilling that is costing Louisiana thousands of
jobs.”

Almost 10 months after BP Plc’s Macondo well exploded,
setting off the biggest U.S. oil spill, drilling in waters
deeper than 500 feet (152 meters) remains stalled because energy
companies haven’t proved they have ships and equipment ready to
handle catastrophic blowouts, the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Regulation and Enforcement said on Feb. 4.